“The industry is a ticking time-bomb”: We spoke to a top construction CEO

Brexit is going to impact many of our businesses. But will it affect the construction industry more than most? We asked a top construction CEO and industry influencer what he thinks.

There is currently a huge skills crisis within the construction industry. Brexit, surely, will only make this worse.

How will Brexit affect construction?

A huge 8% of the construction workforce are EU nationals. This equated to 75,500 professionals, and they could all be forced to leave the UK if we lose our access to the single market. If this happens, over half a billion pounds worth of infrastructure projects will come to a grinding halt. This would be a disastrous blow to UK construction.

The Managing Director of One Way, Paul Payne, told Compelo: “The construction industry is already in the midst of a major skills shortage. That is set to reach new crisis levels once we leave the EU. The industry is a ticking time-bomb.”

A further study has revealed that a whopping two-thirds of firms have already turned away work because of the lack of skills. Yes, that’s before this potential additional loss of the 8% of the workforce.

Is this issue spiralling out of control?

Not enough young people are going into the construction industry and the skills gap is getting wider and wider. Without more people being funnelled into this industry, there could be a cataclysmic impact on the whole sector. This would then have a wider impact on our economy, as the construction industry accounts for more than 7% of the GDP each year.

Top construction CEO Payne says: “I can’t stress enough just how important this is. It is essentially either a choice between investing in talent or watching the UK construction industry shrink and struggle to complete projects.”

What do you think about this rather startling comment from a top construction CEO?